Preschool Schedule

I found this off of Homeschool Preschool...a great description of a variety of schedules. The best thing about homeschooling is you can adapt your schedule and around your life and your preschoolers life. Every parent teaches differently, every child learns differently. Here are a few basic schedules you can use as a model when planning out your week.... In red will be my thoughts.

Overall, plan on devoting 2-3 hours a day to your preschoolers education. The time you spend homeschooling your preschooler can be concentrated in the morning, when you are both fresh and ready to go, or it can be spread out throughout the day.

1. Formal Schedule
If you or your child thrives on structure, consider having a formal schedule. A sample schedule follows:
9:00-9:30 Story time and songs
9:30-10:00 Early math or hands on science activity
10:00-10:30 Snack time and outside play time
10:30-11:00 Pre-literacy activity
11:00-11:30 Arts and Crafts
11:30-12:00 Clean Up and Lunch
(I am very OCD when it comes to planning. I would LOVE to have a formal schedule and am working towards it. However, having a 10 month old at home that is just starting to walk, limits our "school" time to when she is sleeping for the most part. As she gets older, I am hoping to have little learning stations set up for her while I am teaching her older brother to keep her busy)

2. Flexible Schedule
A flexible schedule allow parents to work their preschoolers education into the many unexpected events of a day. Choose 5-15 learning activities that you want to accomplish with your preschooler during the week and list them on a piece of paper or write them on index cards. During the day, choose an activity when you have a block of time available. Cross the activity off of your list or remove it from the pile.
(This is how I introduced my son to homeschooling when he started showing interest in learning... about 18 months old. I had a pile of learning books, blocks, letters etc that I pulled out randomly throughout the week. He loved the one on one time with me and started to ask for "school" time throughout the week.)

3. Combo Schedule
This schedule combines the structure of the formal schedule with flexibility of the aptly named flexible schedule. Simply have a couple of regular activities at predictable times of day followed by a learning activity from a list or stack of cards as in the flexible schedule. For example:
After breakfast: Story Time followed by Activity #1 and free time until lunch
After lunch: Activity #2 followed by arts and crafts time
(This is what we do in our home. I have lesson plans for everyday with materials prepared and ready to go. When my youngest goes down for her morning nap... or if she is sleeping in... we have our school time. We usually have about an hour of activities that I do with my son and then he also has computer time and video time (educational) time everyday.)

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